Week 22 Review: Mammoths at the Gates

From Goodreads:

The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest.

Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass--and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather's body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor's chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve.

But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien's own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate. . .

The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entrypoint.

My Review:
This was a really fantastic read! I've really enjoyed this series, and this latest installment was a fantastic read! That it's stories that are about a person who Chih was close to before their passing, that this was people mourning the loss of the mentor...it was cathartic.

Well, it mostly. Because before he joined the abbey, he was a guy who had a family. And now that he's dead, his grandchildren are coming around and there's conflict between what people from his old life wants, and what his chosen life is supposed to be in death. 

This book does give us a little bit of Chih's backstory, of their life growing up, and how things were like at the Singing Hills abbey. We also learn more about neixin, which was really interesting, to really round out this world that Chih lives in. 

That ending though? Yeah, I knew something was happening, between events in the story and the bit in the synopsis about sorrow, but I didn't expect that! But I really enjoyed how things all worked out, it was a bit bittersweet, but grief and loss happen.

This was a fantastic story, and I can't wait for more in this world! 

Author: Nghi Vo
Series: The Singing Hills Cycle #4
Read: June 2nd, 2023
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2023 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Tordotcom
Expected Publication: September 12th 2023

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars